1.MSNBC's Matthews & Reagan Argue Hug Choreographed to Boost Bush
To Ron Reagan's hearty affirmation, MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked if the hug during the State of the Union, between an Iraqi woman who voted on Sunday and the mother of a Marine who was killed in Iraq, was engineered by President Bush in order "to push his numbers on Social Security reform, just to get his general appeal up a bit, a couple of points?" Matthews proceeded to suggest that Bush's "PR guys around the White House did this to promote the President's agenda" Reagan enthusiastically agreed: "Well, of course they did. Oh, sure they did." Joe Scarborough soon dismissed that theory as "just the height of cynicism." Even after NBC's Norah O'Donnell called the hug "very spontaneous," Matthews wouldn't let go: "The only question is whether that Iraqi woman was prompted to go up and hug" the Marine's mother "by some staffer." Newsweek Managing Editor, Jon Meacham, rejected the notion: "I think the idea that that moment was about Social Security poll numbers is absurd."

2.Hug Leaves Roberts "With Goose Bumps," Rather: "Poignant Moment"
Unlike MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Ron Reagan (see item #1 above), several prominent network reporters were awed by the hug, during the State of the Union address, between an Iraqi woman who voted on Sunday and the mother of a Marine killed in Iraq. ABC's Terry Moran saw it as "the kind of moment that can crystallize for a President what he's trying to do on the world stage." Cokie Roberts, also on ABC, described the "spontaneous hug" as "something that leaves you with goose bumps. And I think will have more resonance than any words he [Bush] said." CBS's Dan Rather wrapped up his prime time coverage by suggesting nothing "said more about America in this 229th year of our freedom than this picture" of the two woman hugging. "In the most poignant moment of any State of the Union night we can remember," Rather related, "a grateful Iraqi said, 'we thank you.'"

3.Jennings: Bush's Iraq Election "Euphoria" Not Matched by Iraqis
The Bush administration and Washington political community have excessive euphoria over the Iraqi elections, ABC's Peter Jennings contended during State of the Union coverage. "Everybody's very euphoric about the fact that Iraqis went to vote on Sunday," Jennings noted before offering a downbeat prediction to Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria: "When the numbers come in eventually...I think it will be clearer that perhaps the enthusiasm for the process is not as great as people here in Washington think." Earlier, Jennings had conveyed how upon arriving in Washington, DC he found "real euphoria, particularly with the President, about election day." From Iraq, Martha Raddatz responded by reporting that U.S. military commanders are "talking about, frankly what Nancy Pelosi was talking about, and that is the infrastructure..."

4.CNN and NBC Focus on Bush's "Historic Low" Approval Rating
President Bush's comparatively low approval rating animated some reporters Wednesday night. Before the State of the Union, CNN's Paula Zahn Now pointed it out repeatedly and, after the address, NBC focused on it. Zahn asked a guest: "This President comes into the State of the Union address with a 50 percent approval rating. What challenge does that present?" She soon pointed out how "the President is under a lot of pressure tonight to deliver this speech at a time when his approval rating rests at 50 percent" and CNN's John King echoed that "this is a President at a historic low in terms of delivering a State of the Union, a 50 percent approval rating." Over a graphic displaying the approval ratings of past second term Presidents, NBC's Brian Williams asserted that George W. Bush stands "lowest among modern Presidents."

5.Calling Inked Fingers "Disgusting," Garofalo Uses Nazi Salute
"The inked fingers was disgusting," Air America radio talk show host Janeane Garofalo declared on MSNBC in denouncing Republican lawmakers who, before and after the State of the Union, showed off an inked finger meant to demonstrate solidarity with Iraqi voters who dipped a finger in ink when they voted. To mock the display, Garofalo soon held up her hand in a Nazi salute as she predicted: "The inked fingers and the position of them, which is gonna be a Daily Show photo already, of them signaling in this manner [Nazi salute], as if they have solidarity with the Iraqis who braved physical threats against their lives to vote as if somehow these inked-fingered Republicans have something to do with that."

6.Bush Jokes with Rather About Joining Him in Retirement in Texas
Fox's Chris Wallace related on FNC Wednesday night how, at the presidential lunch for network anchors and hosts of Sunday shows, President Bush joked with Dan Rather about how they'll both retire to Texas. Wallace related: "At the very end, as the President left, he asked Mr. Rather whether he was planning to retire to Texas and that he would be joining...Rather in retirement in Texas in four years."

7.WPost Editor Says Bush Invents Reality, Complains Taxes Too Low
In a post-State of the Union "instant analysis" chat session, Robert G. Kaiser, the Associate Managing Editor of the Washington Post, listed a litany of topics which illustrate how "Bush often describes a world whose features are all highly debatable, if not simply invented." To ensure the solvency of Social Security, Kaiser argued, will require balancing the budget and "that will mean raising some taxes." Kaiser asserted, as if it were a problem to address, that the U.S. has "the lowest taxes of any industrialized country."

8.Lauer: Bush SS Plan Makes Him "Divider," Koppel: W Using "Fear"
Some brushbacks, from NBC's Matt Lauer and ABC's Ted Koppel, against President Bush's wish to slightly modify Social Security to allow a little private investment. Noting how Democrats oppose the idea, on Wednesday's Today Lauer held Bush, not the opposition, accountable for the split: "Now I remember President Bush saying he wanted to be a uniter not a divider. This has division written all over it." The night before on Nightline, Koppel discredited Bush's policy prescription by arguing Bush is using fear to sell it. "It's more than a little sad, but fear is quite clearly the most effective motivator in the world of commerce or politics," Koppel regretted. He blamed fear of terrorism for the Iraq war and then fretted that when politicians "tell us that the money in our Social Security system is going to run out 40 or 50 or even 75 years from now...you have our rapt attention."

9.NPR's Liasson Labels Dean a "Staunch Centrist" & "Deficit Hawk"
With Howard Dean trying to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, time to try to rehabilitate his left-wing image. On Tuesday afternoon's All Things Considered, NPR reporter Mara Liasson, a regular FNC contributor, trotted out the same old he's-not-really-liberal line which journalists pushed before the reality of his campaign undermined the media spin. She argued that Dean's "record on issues other than foreign policy is not left of center. He is actually a staunch centrist, pragmatic, reform Democrat who is pro-gun rights, comes from a rural state, and he's a deficit hawk."

To Ron Reagan's hearty affirmation, MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked if the hug during the State of the Union, between an Iraqi woman who voted on Sunday and the mother of a Marine who was killed in Iraq, was engineered by President Bush in order "to push his numbers on Social Security reform, just to get his general appeal up a bit, a couple of points?" Matthews proceeded to suggest that Bush's "PR guys around the White House did this to promote the President's agenda" Reagan enthusiastically agreed: "Well, of course they did. Oh, sure they did." Joe Scarborough soon dismissed that theory as "just the height of cynicism." Even after NBC's Norah O'Donnell called the hug "very spontaneous," Matthews wouldn't let go: "The only question is whether that Iraqi woman was prompted to go up and hug" the Marine's mother "by some staffer." Newsweek Managing Editor, Jon Meacham, rejected the notion: "I think the idea that that moment was about Social Security poll numbers is absurd."

(ABC's Cokie Roberts also didn't see political calculation in the late Marine's mother leaning forward to hug the Iraqi woman in the row below. Roberts described it as "spontaneous." See item #2 below for how Roberts, Terry Moran and Dan Rather viewed the hug.)

The hug, during Bush's address, took place in the gallery between Safia Taleb al-Suhail, leader of the Iraqi Women's Political Council, and Janet Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas, the mother of a Marine killed in Iraq. For a photo of the two hugging: news.yahoo.com

MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth caught the lively exchange on MSNBC amongst Matthews, Reagan, Scarborough and O'Donnell, which took place at about 10:55pm EST.

After Ron Reagan said that he is uncomfortable with people who have undergone tragedy being used as political props -- unless they got something out of it emotionally, Matthews proposed: "But isn't it the true story of this gift? If you think about it in a non-political sense, and you think about these service people, we met a lot of them out at Camp Pendleton last week, these young Marines, these guys...making a commitment to join a unit, to operate as a unit, to operate without questioning authority, to think in terms of mission and job and training and the environment they're in, and they give this, their life, for a cause. Shouldn't that be displayed?" Reagan acceded: "Yes, that's, there's nothing wrong with that, I mean, you did a whole show out there at Pendleton, which certainly displayed their courage and the honor that they have. Again, I'm just uncomfortable with, you know, using people in such obvious pain as a political prop. But again, if they got something out of it, that's the most important thing to me. If they felt satisfied." Matthews then suggested: "Do you think President Bush used this to push his numbers on Social Security reform, just to get his general appeal up a bit, a couple of points?" Reagan: "Well, I don't want to speculate on what was in President Bush's mind." Matthews: "How about his handlers? Do you think the PR guys-" Reagan: "Well, yes, sure." Matthews: "-around the White House did this to promote the President's agenda?" Scarborough interjected: "Please, come on." Reagan: "Well, of course they did. Oh, sure they did." Scarborough: "Oh, come on!" Reagan: "Oh, come on, Joe. What, they did this out of the sympathy of their hearts?" Scarborough: "You know what? I got to interrupt here." Matthews: "You're not interrupting. You're here." Scarborough: "You know, the thing is, to look at that picture, to look at the President, to look at these people at this historic moment, and to suggest that somebody cynically said, 'Oh, let's just put these two people together not because the President believes this in all of his heart-'" Matthews: "Right." Scarborough: "I mean, that's just the height of cynicism." Matthews: "No, I'm just asking you, I'm not taking sides here, but you know who makes these decisions, the PR people around the President." Reagan: "That's right." Matthews: "They make the decision about who sits in the box and where they're seated next to who."...

O'Donnell soon quipped: "I am a uniter, not a divider. I think what they, what happened there honestly was the White House does set up those situations where they put them in there, but I think it was very spontaneous, the hug." Matthews: "Janet's hug. Janet Norwood's hug." O'Donnell: "It was spontaneous when Janet Norwood's, the dog tags of her son were caught on the sleeve of that woman. She didn't hand the dog tags to her. She was pulling away, and they were caught, and that was a spontaneous moment where she then had to pull them away. And it was metaphorical, in a way, if you will, that her son's dog tags were caught on the sleeve of this woman. And that's why that moment, I think, will be something that's talked about for a long time. Watch here [video replay]. You see she's hugging, she's holding the dog tags, and watch as she goes to pull away-" Reagan: "It catches on a button on the sleeve." O'Donnell: "-it catches on the button, and she goes to pull-" Matthews wouldn't let go of his theory: "I guess the only question is whether that Iraqi woman was prompted to go up and hug Janet Norwood by some staffer-" O'Donnell: "Well, who cares?" Reagan: "I don't know that that's true, Chris." Matthews: "Who cares? I think some people care." Reagan: "Yeah, I don't know that that-" Matthews: "I think it's an open question. I think the spontaneity of emotion was spontaneous. [unintelligible] -how much PR went into that thing?" Reagan: "Both things are true. There is spontaneous emotion there, and I certainly would honor it. And, Joe, you can call it cynicism if you want. All I'm saying is it makes me uncomfortable when people are being used for a reason that is political. Now, if they got something good out of it, then that's more important. But that's simply an observation on my part." Meacham, Newsweek: "But that's like saying that most military rituals are for political purposes. That's like saying a flag-draped coffin is for a political purpose." Reagan: "No, it's nothing like that, Jon." Meacham: "No, it is, Ron." Reagan: "No, it's not." Meacham: "It is. It's just, I think the idea that that moment was about Social Security poll numbers is absurd."

Unlike MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Ron Reagan (see item #1 above), several prominent network reporters were awed by the hug, during the State of the Union address, between an Iraqi woman who voted on Sunday and the mother of a Marine killed in Iraq. ABC's Terry Moran saw it as "the kind of moment that can crystallize for a President what he's trying to do on the world stage." Cokie Roberts, also on ABC, described the "spontaneous hug" as "something that leaves you with goose bumps. And I think will have more resonance than any words he [Bush] said." CBS's Dan Rather wrapped up his prime time coverage by suggesting nothing "said more about America in this 229th year of our freedom than this picture" of the two woman hugging. "In the most poignant moment of any State of the Union night we can remember," Rather related, "a grateful Iraqi said, 'we thank you.'"

Just a couple of minutes after President Bush concluded his Wednesday night address, Terry Moran opined on ABC: "Well, Peter, that was a shattering, emotional moment. It was the kind of moment that can crystallize for a President what he's trying to do on the world stage. There, in the chamber of the House of Representatives, the grieving mother of a dead Marine and a woman from Iraq who just voted three days ago, in tears, embracing. It just crystallizes everything the President was talking about."

Cokie Roberts soon chimed in: "I don't think anybody watching this will get past the moment of the Iraqi woman, turning around and completely spontaneously hugging the mother of the Marine. It was such a moment. And it really, in a lot of ways, bespoke what the President is trying to say. That the Iraqi people want us there and that we have liberated them. And to have that, just completely spontaneous hug, was something that leaves you with goose bumps. And I think will have more resonance than any words he said."

Over on CBS, just before 11pm EST, Dan Rather ended prime time coverage with this upbeat testimonial: "Well, amid the hundreds of words spoken tonight by President Bush, and by the Democrats in their response, about the state of our union, perhaps none said more about America in this 229th year of our freedom than this picture [video replay of hug]. The parents of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, Sargent Byron Norwood of Texas. America, a nation willing to sacrifice so much so that the people of Iraq might have the same chance at freedom Americans have. And in the most poignant moment of any State of the Union night we can remember, a grateful Iraqi said, 'we thank you.'"

The Bush administration and Washington political community have excessive euphoria over the Iraqi elections, ABC's Peter Jennings contended during State of the Union coverage. "Everybody's very euphoric about the fact that Iraqis went to vote on Sunday," Jennings noted before offering a downbeat prediction to Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria: "When the numbers come in eventually...I think it will be clearer that perhaps the enthusiasm for the process is not as great as people here in Washington think." Earlier, Jennings had conveyed how upon arriving in Washington, DC he found "real euphoria, particularly with the President, about election day." From Iraq, Martha Raddatz responded by reporting that U.S. military commanders are "talking about, frankly what Nancy Pelosi was talking about, and that is the infrastructure..."

At about 10:50pm EST, Jennings laid out a thesis and then asked Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek International, to react: "Everybody's very euphoric about the fact that Iraqis went to vote on Sunday. When the numbers come in eventually, who did vote and what percentage they voted in, I think it will be clearer that perhaps the enthusiasm for the process is not as great as people here in Washington think. Do you think that will change the equation?" Zakaria: "I think the most important thing that will change the equation, Peter, will be how the Shia leadership deal with that reality. And I think you're right that probably there will be not a very significant Sunni vote. But the Shia leadership so far have been extremely responsible. It may turn out that Ayatollah Sistani is a kind of mature leader who takes his power and wields it well. And if that happens, that will be the greatest luck of all for the United States."

Earlier, at about 10:30pm EST, from Washington, DC, Jennings interviewed Martha Raddatz in Baghdad. Recalling how he had just left Iraq, he asked her: "I left you about -- I guess it was 24 hours ago now to come back here to Washington, and found in the political establishment today real euphoria, particularly with the President, about election day. What does it feel like there today, in what is currently the Iraqi political establishment?" Raddatz: "Well, some of the commanders I spoke with yesterday and some of the troops that had been out on the street. We went out as well, yesterday, with some people say election hangover is they're -- they're getting over that. And they're talking about, frankly what Nancy Pelosi was talking about, and that is the infrastructure, saying we got to get these programs going. People don't have power in certain areas. There's a fuel crisis here, because of distribution, not supply. So I think Iraqis are going to start talking about that more and more this week -- let's get the country back in shape, a lot of them are saying. The election is over. We told you what we wanted to do. Now, let's get back to the work. And commanders are serious about getting this going. They want to work on the momentum of the Iraqi people."

President Bush's comparatively low approval rating animated some reporters Wednesday night. Before the State of the Union, CNN's Paula Zahn Now pointed it out repeatedly and, after the address, NBC focused on it. Zahn asked a guest: "This President comes into the State of the Union address with a 50 percent approval rating. What challenge does that present?" She soon pointed out how "the President is under a lot of pressure tonight to deliver this speech at a time when his approval rating rests at 50 percent" and CNN's John King echoed that "this is a President at a historic low in terms of delivering a State of the Union, a 50 percent approval rating." Over a graphic displaying the approval ratings of past second term Presidents, NBC's Brian Williams asserted that George W. Bush stands "lowest among modern Presidents."

The MRC's Ken Shepherd collated some examples of the interest in Bush's approval rating.

-- Paula Zahn asked David Gergen: "Final question for you, talk about slippage, this President comes into the State of the Union address with a 50 percent approval rating. What challenge does that present? That's one of the lowest ever, isn't it?" Gergen affirmed: "It's the lowest approval rating heading into a second term since that of Richard Nixon...."

-- In a look at how Congress views Bush's Social Security plan, John King maintained: "Well, the Republicans are nervous, Paula. And they are going to watch the President when he hits the road after this speech tonight to see if he can rally public support. This is a President at a historic low in terms of delivering a State of the Union, a 50 percent approval rating, despite winning the election. He needs to get that number up. And he needs to get convincing evidence in the polls that the America people are at least open to considering this."

-- A minute later, Zahn returned to the theme: "And as John king continues our conversation, I just want to remind you the President's speech will get under way from the House chamber you're looking at now in just about 12 minutes or so. So John, the President is under a lot of pressure tonight to deliver this speech at a time when his approval rating rests at 50 percent. What impact does that have on the calibration of his speech?"

-- Toward the end of NBC's coverage, Brian Williams announced: "Welcome back. Our coverage continues. This State of the Union night in Washington, the President of the United States approaching what has really destroyed the political careers of others and that is a second term in office. And, Tim Russert looking at some of the approval ratings as other Presidents have entered their second terms. Eisenhower, 73 percent approval. Reagan 64, Clinton 60, Nixon 51. And George W. Bush, lowest among modern Presidents appeared in the well of the House chamber tonight at only 50 percent approval rating. He is known to feel very strongly that he will break the second term curse among modern Presidents. What does he have to do?" Russert: "His view was after the first election in 2000. He won by a handful of votes, a win is a win. Spend your capital. Define your agenda or others will do it for you. Full speed ahead on Iraq, Social Security, tax cuts. And, it's up to the Democrats not only to oppose him but to offer an alternative. Washington is fully engaged. And if the President can keep it on those issues, he'll have a good second term. If it goes off into Iraq only and things do not improve there, then it could be a difficult time for him."

"The inked fingers was disgusting," Air America radio talk show host Janeane Garofalo declared on MSNBC in denouncing Republican lawmakers who, before and after the State of the Union, showed off an inked finger meant to demonstrate solidarity with Iraqi voters who dipped a finger in ink when they voted. To mock the display, Garofalo soon held up her hand in a Nazi salute as she predicted: "The inked fingers and the position of them, which is gonna be a Daily Show photo already, of them signaling in this manner [Nazi salute], as if they have solidarity with the Iraqis who braved physical threats against their lives to vote as if somehow these inked-fingered Republicans have something to do with that."

Air America radio host Janeane Garofalo mocked Republicans who supported Iraqi voters and compared their actions to Nazis.

For a still shot of Garofalo's Nazi hand gesture -- arm fully extended at an upward angle with four fingers together -- check the posted version of this CyberAlert item. After 10am EST, go to: www.mediaresearch.org

Garofalo made the Nazi salute, which the MRC's Brad Wilmouth noticed, at 12:37am EST Thursday morning during MSNBC's 12-2am EST After Hours show from Washington, DC.
Garofalo, an actress/comedienne-turned talk host, appeared by satellite from New York City.

The relevant portion of her appearance, picking up when Pat Buchanan asked her about the jeers Democrats uttered during Bush's speech: "Janeane, do you think what Mike Barnicle described as Animal House behavior in the Congress helps the Democratic Party when you got a State of the Union, solemn occasion, Supreme Court there, both Houses, First Lady, and they're hooting and jeering the way they would at, you know, at some rock concert when they were in college? Do you think that's helpful?" Garofalo: "No, what I don't think is helpful is a Republican Party that has been nothing but partisan and dishonest in service of this President who lied about weapons of mass destruction, has lied about Social Security-" Buchanan: "I'm not sure if that's addressed to my question." Garofalo: "Yeah, I am answering your question. It wasn't Animal House behavior, and it was a very short, vocal response. And the inked fingers was disgusting. And the standing ovations were such mediocrity. You guys are so easily impressed, it's shocking. But the inked fingers showing solidarity-" Joe Scarborough: "I'm glad we could shock you." Buchanan: "You got the whole gang, you got the whole gang you're going after now." Garofalo: "Yeah, except for Ron Reagan, who actually is the only one who is being reasonable there-" Scarborough: "God bless you, Ron. That's why we have you on." Garofalo: "The inked fingers and the position of them, which is gonna be a Daily Show photo already, of them signaling in this manner [does the Nazi salute], as if they have solidarity with the Iraqis who braved physical threats against their lives to vote as if somehow these inked-fingered Republicans have something to do with that. And also, the bit of theater about the very distraught parents of the soldier who had died, the point is not if this was a real moment, if it was staged, if it was PR. The point is, is those parents and their son were misled about why that young man went into Iraq. And when he wrote a letter to his mother saying, 'It's my job to protect you now,' protect her from what? The imminent threat of Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction? So don't bring up, 'Is it helpful if the Democrats make some noise' when they're being lied to. That's not helpful, that's not helpful to pundits like you maybe, but it is not helpful to the country when a Republican President and his partisan Republican Party continue to perpetuate myth and dishonesty on the country."

A bit more
than a week ago on MSNBC Garofalo declared that "George W. Bush is unelectable." That prompted Joe Scarborough to wonder "why does he keep winning?" Garofalo responded with ridiculous accusations followed by cluelessness: "I don't know, voter fraud? A failed mainstream media that fails to inform the electorate about what their government is doing, ignorance, apathy? I don't know." See: www.mrc.org

Fox's Chris Wallace related on FNC Wednesday night how, at the presidential lunch for network anchors and hosts of Sunday shows, President Bush joked with Dan Rather about how they'll both retire to Texas. Wallace related: "At the very end, as the President left, he asked Mr. Rather whether he was planning to retire to Texas and that he would be joining...Rather in retirement in Texas in four years."

The MRC's Rich Noyes caught the anecdote which the MRC's Brad Wilmouth tracked down from FNC coverage at about 10:55pm EST:

Brit Hume: "It was also striking to see how the President would interact with certain other members of our trade. And I don't mind mentioning, I think, that it was interesting that Dan Rather of CBS News, who has obviously been critical of the President and was involved in what amounted to a journalistic scandal because of the story about the President's Guard service that turned out badly, was there. It was interesting to see how he reacted to the President and how the President treated him." Chris Wallace: "Yeah, well, I agree. And I will simply say that at the very end, as the President left, he asked Mr. Rather whether he was planning to retire to Texas and that he would be joining-" Hume: "Dan is a Texan." Wallace: "Yes, that's right. And said that he would be joining Rather in retirement in Texas in four years. But on the other hand, the President was going off to lead the free world for the next four years."

In a post-State of the Union "instant analysis" chat session, Robert G. Kaiser, the Associate Managing Editor of the Washington Post, listed a litany of topics which illustrate how "Bush often describes a world whose features are all highly debatable, if not simply invented." To ensure the solvency of Social Security, Kaiser argued, will require balancing the budget and "that will mean raising some taxes." Kaiser asserted, as if it were a problem to address, that the U.S. has "the lowest taxes of any industrialized country."

The MRC's Tim Graham alerted me to two of the exchanges in Kaiser's 10pm EST session conducted Wednesday night:

-- Washington, D.C.: "Anything he said strike you as objectively untrue?" Kaiser: "Yes. Bush often describes a world whose features are all highly debatable, if not simply invented. He proposes 'a comprehensive health care agenda' that will leave perhaps 50 million Americans without health insurance. Is that comprehensive in any meaningful sense? He promises big economic benefits from legal changes, 'tort reform' that independent economists say cannot have more than a small economic effect even if enacted, which is not likely. He promises to increase the size of Pell Grants, not noting that they have shrunk far below the level he promised when he came into the White House. He proposes to reduce American dependency on foreign supplies of energy, when independent specialists say that as long as we need oil, we will be heavily, and increasingly, dependent on foreign suppliers. Bush spoke of a free and sovereign Iraq as though all was well there, but Iraq is a country in terrible straits, with most uncertain prospects. Bush didn't invent the rosy scenario approach to politics, of course. There's a lot of tradition behind this kind of wishful rhetoric."

-- Falls Church, Va.: "I am in my mid-twenties. Ever since I understood the issue, I've never had any intention of collecting any Social Security benefits -- I've always assumed it would be long gone by the time I retired, and I plan accordingly. (Most people I know my age feel the same way.) Any plan that has a chance of actually returning some of that money to me gets my support. I think this plan has that chance." Kaiser: "Thanks for posting. I've heard others your age say this a lot, and I confess it baffles me, for a reason I mentioned earlier. Do you really think some future U.S. government is going to simply walk away from its entirely legal obligations to pay Social Security benefits to those who have paid into the system? There would be no precedent for such a default by the U.S. government, long considered the most reliable creditor on Earth, literally. Such a default would jeopardize the nation's entire financial structure. "Now admittedly, to avoid it, some future Congresses and Presidents are going to have to revert to what was once a fundamental American commitment to balance the federal budget. And that will mean raising some taxes. We have today the lowest taxes of any industrialized country (and, yes, the highest rates of productivity and growth, which can't be denied). But in my view we could afford to live within our means, and make good on our promises, as we always have in the past, without destroying the economy."

Some brushbacks, from NBC's Matt Lauer and ABC's Ted Koppel, against President Bush's wish to slightly modify Social Security to allow a little private investment. Noting how Democrats oppose the idea, on Wednesday's Today Lauer held Bush, not the opposition, accountable for the split: "Now I remember President Bush saying he wanted to be a uniter not a divider. This has division written all over it." The night before on Nightline, Koppel discredited Bush's policy prescription by arguing Bush is using fear to sell it. "It's more than a little sad, but fear is quite clearly the most effective motivator in the world of commerce or politics," Koppel regretted. He blamed fear of terrorism for the Iraq war and then fretted that when politicians "tell us that the money in our Social Security system is going to run out 40 or 50 or even 75 years from now...you have our rapt attention."

Interviewing White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett on Wednesday's Today, Lauer, the MRC's Geoff Dickens noticed, took up President Bush's plan to barnstorm for his Social Security proposal: "He's heading off on a trip. He's gonna talk about this system in a couple of states. Actually North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas, Florida. Six of the seven Democratic Senators from those states have said they are unalterably opposed to the President's main principle of these personal investment accounts. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday, quote, 'President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security. It will not happen. And the sooner he comes to that realization the better off we are.' Now I remember President Bush saying he wanted to be a uniter not a divider. This has division written all over it."

On Tuesday's Nightline, the MRC's Jessica Barnes observed, Koppel ended his February 1 show, which looked at Bush's Social Security proposal, with a "Closing Thought" lecture about the use of "fear" to sell it: "It's more than a little sad, but fear is quite clearly the most effective motivator in the world of commerce or politics. Because we are afraid of bad breath, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, slipping dentures and a spreading waistline, we will keep the pharmaceutical industry in clover for generations to come. Because we are afraid that unspeakable acts of terrorism are just around the corner here at home, we are prepared to shoulder almost any burden over there in Iraq. And tell us that the money in our Social Security system is going to run out 40 or 50 or even 75 years from now, and you have our rapt attention. Yes, fear is a powerful force, but here's a lovely sign I saw the other day: 'Pessimism,' it read, 'is a misuse of the imagination.'"

With Howard Dean trying to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, time to try to rehabilitate his left-wing image. On Tuesday afternoon's All Things Considered, NPR reporter Mara Liasson, a regular FNC contributor, trotted out the same old he's-not-really-liberal line which journalists pushed before the reality of his campaign undermined the media spin. She argued that Dean's "record on issues other than foreign policy is not left of center. He is actually a staunch centrist, pragmatic, reform Democrat who is pro-gun rights, comes from a rural state, and he's a deficit hawk."

Unmentioned, how not being too anti-gun is a must for a Vermont politician. As for being a "deficit hawk," oft-cited analysis a year ago about his record undermined that claim.

The MRC's NPR-listener, Tom Johnson, caught the description of Dean in the February 1 story about the fight for DNC chief. Liasson contended: "The argument against Dean is that he's too identified with the anti-war left of the party, which is interesting, because although he did ride that issue during the primaries, his record on issues other than foreign policy is not left of center. He is actually a staunch centrist, pragmatic, reform Democrat who is pro-gun rights, comes from a rural state, and he's a deficit hawk."

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.